Senior researcher and Head of the Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology at IRCCS San Raffaele in Rome, with a PhD and degrees in Molecular and Cellular Biology from La Sapienza University. International experience includes research at Pfizer Center for Plant Genomics (NY, 2010) and Peking University (China, 2013). My research focuses on the identification of novel biomarkers to develop more cost-effective and less invasive diagnostic strategies, as well as targeted therapeutic approaches for neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Alzheimer’s disease. I have investigated the role of DNA-PKcs in DNA repair and neuronal death, demonstrating that its deficiency impairs synaptic plasticity. Through Western blotting, immunofluorescence, and mass spectrometry, I showed that DNA-PKcs phosphorylates the PSD-95 protein, ensuring its stability in neurons. I also developed an innovative model based on the chemical conversion of fibroblasts into human neurons (ciNs), which reproduces key pathological features of Alzheimer’s disease, such as beta-amyloid and pTau aggregates, and mitochondrial damage. This system represents a promising alternative for diagnostics and drug screening without the use of animals.